20 Years of Thanksgiving Trends

We're counting back the most popular Thanksgiving trends of the last 20 years.

Save Collection

By: Food Network Kitchen

Related To:

Photo By: Renee Comet

Photo By: Tara Donne ©FOOD NETWORK : 2012, Television Food Network, G.P.

Photo By: Matt Armendariz

Photo By: Richad Rudisill ©Richard Rudisill

Photo By: Yunhee Kim

Photo By: Tara Donne ©Tara Donne

Photo By: Tenzin Sherab

Photo By: Tara Donne

Photo By: Monika Adamczyk

Thanksgiving Through the Years

From the reign of deep-fried turkeys in 1996 to 2017's sheet pan craze, here's proof that the turkey day feast is ever-evolving. What will 2018 bring to the table?

2017: Sheet Pan Recipes

Sheet pan dinners are all the rage, making meals easier to put together and clean up. And the clever sheet pan hack can do the same for Thanksgiving, giving you an entire feast on two sheet pans or you letting quadruple the holiday pie fun in one.

Get the Recipe: Four-Flavor Sheet Pan Pie

2016: Cauliflower

Cauliflower is the "it" vegetable, and chefs turn it into low-carb pizza crusts, satisfying soups and even vegetarian "steaks." At-home cooks grate it to serve as "rice" and puree it to stealthily add nutrients to mashed potatoes and Alfredo sauce.

Get the Recipe: Roasted Cauliflower

2015: Hasselback is Back

Made popular by the chefs at Restaurant Hasselbacken in Sweden, Hasselback potatoes fell off the radar for some time. The technique makes a resurgence in 2015, though, when HuffPost calls Hasselback potatoes "the perfect cross between mashed and roasted."

2014: Doughnuts

Thanks to the Cronut's viral success in 2013, doughnuts become a key trend. Shops pop up in just about every neighborhood, serving the favorites as well as over-the-top creations. Some specialty stores are known to even offer Thanksgiving-themed doughnuts, everything from a sweet potato casserole flavor to one that features the entire meal on top.

Get the Recipe: Apple Cider Doughnuts

2013: Bruleed Pumpkin Pie

Fire up the blowtorches. Three leading food mags — Martha Stewart Living, Bon Appétit and Saveur — offer up pumpkin pies with the crackling torched-sugar tops.

Try This: How to Brulee a Pumpkin Pie

2012: Creamed Kale

Kale: It's not just for salad. Kale mania grips the nation, pushing spinach, mesclun and arugula off the plate. Is there anything this super veggie can't do? We're still waiting to find out.

Get the Recipe: Creamed Kale

2011: Cornbread Stuffing

Southern food is smoking-hot, as reflected in the sudden resurgence of this down-home classic.

Get the Recipe: Neely's Holiday Cornbread Stuffing

2010: Turkeys Glaze Over

Molasses, pomegranate, maple, cider, soy sauce, even malt beer: The foodie press abounds in photogenic glazed birds.

Get the Recipe: Cranberry-Orange Glazed Turkey

2009: Spatchcocked Turkey

What works for chicken works for turkey. Just when you thought there was nothing new in turkey technique, here comes a method that — by cutting out the backbone and pressing the turkey flat — delivers incredibly fast and even cooking.

2008: Hello, Brussels Sprouts!

We discover the amazing versatility of Brussels sprouts: They're great whether shaved or shredded into a slaw, or separated into leaves and quickly sauteed.

Try This: How to Roast Brussels Sprouts

2007: Heritage Turkey

Those lean, flavorful, pricey old-breed birds, with evocative names like Bourbon Red and Narragansett, are all the rage. By 2008 they show up on Iron Chef America.

2006: Dressing Beats the Stuffing Out of the Bird

Reports of the dangers of undercooked stuffing push more and more cooks in the direction of dressing.

Get the Recipe: Country Bread and Sage Dressing

2005: Pork

Your bacon-of-the-month subscription? It comes in handy around Thanksgiving.

Get the Recipe: Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage, Smoked Bacon, and Cornbread Stuffing

2004: Dry-Brined Turkey

Salt meat heavily and refrigerate, loosely covered, for two or three days prior to cooking; that's dry-brining, a technique popularized by the dearly departed San Francisco Chef Judy Rogers, in her 2002 Zuni Cafe Cookbook. By 2004 her justly famous Zuni chicken is the template for countless Zuni turkeys.

Get the Recipe: Dry-Brined Turkey With Classic Herb Butter

2003: Wild Mushroom Stuffing (and Gravy)

Wild mushrooms are widely available, although expensive; the holidays provide the perfect excuse to splurge.

Get the Recipe: Sourdough, Wild Mushroom, and Bacon Dressing

2002: Turducken

Up from Cajun country flies the turducken, a boneless beast composed of a chicken stuffed into a duck stuffed into a turkey. Three birds in one, requiring virtuoso technique on the part of the butcher.

Video: Alpine Steakhouse Turducken

2001: Balsamic-Glazed ...

Balsamic burst into the mainstream in the '90s, and by 2001 it fully infiltrates Thanksgiving, providing sweetness, acidity and an appealing burnish to carrots, onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash, pears and even turkeys.

2000: Savory Bread Pudding

Better than stuffing? Not necessarily. But folks are giving it a shot.

Get the Recipe: Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding

1999: Truffled Mashed Potatoes

There was a time — before we learned it is 100 percent synthetic — when a little truffle oil seemed the height of sophistication. The year? 1999.

1998: Smashed Potatoes

Here's a win for rusticity over the smooth refinement of mashed, likely driven by the rise of trendy Yukon gold and other waxier potatoes, which smash better than they mash. In the early '00s, Rachael Ray will usher smashed potatoes into the mainstream on her smash hit, 30 Minute Meals.

Get the Recipe: Cheesy Smashed Potatoes

1997: Brined Turkey

Cooks Illustrated magazine shakes the pompoms for giving turkey a salty soak.

Get the Recipe: Roasted Thanksgiving Turkey

1996: Deep-Fried Turkey

Martha Stewart Living magazine gets the (butter)ball rolling on this one, and it's pushed along by Alton and other Food Network stars.

Get the Recipe: Deep-Fried Turkey

1995: Suddenly, Tofurky

Tofurky, a vegan rendition of a roast turkey, stuffing included, is hatched by an Oregon company.

1994: Cranberry Salsa

Regional American cooking traditions, particularly Southwestern, are trending hot; it turns out cranberries have a striking affinity for chiles.

Baked Rigatoni with Sausage

Lemon Spaghetti with Shrimp

Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

Broccoli Gratin

Carbonara Stuffed Potatoes with Crispy Pancetta

The Great Food Truck Race

Tournament of Champions

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

The Pioneer Woman

The Kitchen

Delicious Miss Brown

Kardea Brown

Ree Drummond

Ina Garten

Sunny Anderson

Bobby Flay

Valerie Bertinelli

Guy Fieri

Giada De Laurentiis

Molly Yeh

Step-by-Step Tutorials

Browse Meal Plans

Encore: Crustless Mini Quiches with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard

Encore: Classic Cream Scones

Bakery-Style Jelly Butter Cookies

Pork Tenderloin with Dressing and Pan Gravy

Magical Lucky Charms Bars

Encore: Crispy Salmon with Cucumber Salad and Spicy Mayo

Try Premium

Easy Weeknights

A Budget-Friendly Meal Plan for Busy Weeks

Encore: Crustless Mini Quiches with Mushrooms and Swiss Chard

Encore: Classic Cream Scones

Bakery-Style Jelly Butter Cookies

Pork Tenderloin with Dressing and Pan Gravy

Magical Lucky Charms Bars

Encore: Crispy Salmon with Cucumber Salad and Spicy Mayo

Buttered Popcorn Blondies

Red Velvet Pie

Thanksgiving How-Tos

20 Years of Thanksgiving Trends

Related To:

Thanksgiving Through the Years

2017: Sheet Pan Recipes

2016: Cauliflower

2015: Hasselback is Back

2014: Doughnuts

2013: Bruleed Pumpkin Pie

2012: Creamed Kale

2011: Cornbread Stuffing

2010: Turkeys Glaze Over

2009: Spatchcocked Turkey

2008: Hello, Brussels Sprouts!

2007: Heritage Turkey

2006: Dressing Beats the Stuffing Out of the Bird

2005: Pork

2004: Dry-Brined Turkey

2003: Wild Mushroom Stuffing (and Gravy)

2002: Turducken

2001: Balsamic-Glazed ...

2000: Savory Bread Pudding

1999: Truffled Mashed Potatoes

1998: Smashed Potatoes

1997: Brined Turkey

1996: Deep-Fried Turkey

1995: Suddenly, Tofurky

1994: Cranberry Salsa

Related Pages

Pork Tenderloin with Dressing and Pan Gravy 

Pork Tenderloin with Dressing and Pan Gravy 